Broadway's biggest stars have united under one melody with the hope to raise money for the victims of the Orlando shooting, including the families who lost loved ones in the June 12 attack at Pulse nightclub that left 49 people dead and more than 50 others injured.
Over 60 stars and singers of note—including Sara Bareilles, Billy Porter, Sarah Jessica Parker and Whoopi Goldberg—collaborated on a rendition of Burt Bacharach's "What The World Needs Now," which they coined "Broadway for Orlando."
Just three days after the shooting, the artists gathered at Avatar Studios in New York City to record their call for peace and love. Available for purchase on both the Broadway Records website and iTunes, 100 percent of profits will go towards relief efforts under the LGBT Center of Central Florida. As of June 19, the center had collected $423,909 in victim relief donations and counting.
Bareilles, who wrote the songs for the stage musical Waitress, shared an audio-less video on Instagram of her and her costars singing at the recording studio, writing, "Asking for more love in the name of #BroadwayforOrlando with just about every huge heart on Broadway and Beyond. @sethrudetsky and co have done wondrous things and I am honored to be among the voices lifted in love. I'm saving the sound so you hear the finished product. #yawelcome #love."
Broadway Records President Van Dean; SiriusXM Radio host Seth Rudetsky, who mans the Broadway channel; and producer James Wesley championed the charitable initiative in conjunction with Playbill and Avatar Studios.
Parker added on social media, "I was so honored that my friends @sethrudetsky, James Wesley and Marc Shaiman invited me to join so many from the Broadway community who arrived with their big gorgeous voices and their even bigger hearts to sing 'What the World Needs Now'. Because it's true."
According to its website, the LGBT Center of Central Florida serves to "promote and empower the LGBT Community and its allies through information, education, advocacy and support."